Subtle Color

Hayden Ranch #12. Near Leadville, Colorado, 2013

I tend toward monochrome with my images for personal reasons. But not always. If I feel like color is an important element in the scene I may elect to keep it in the final photograph.

Sometimes the color is striking and bold, but other times it is more subtle. The latter–color that sort of seeps into your conscientiousness–I find to be very attractive to the eye. It doesn’t yell and scream at you; it gently calls you, sometimes in sort of a nostalgic way.

Above, is an example of a Hayden Ranch scene with which I followed my typical post-processing conversion flow. Below, is the same scene, but leaving the subtle autumn colors that were there in the actual landscape. Which do you prefer? Is it simply a matter of taste, or is it possible that there is a real, qualitative difference? I suppose each person will react differently.

Hayden Ranch #12 (color). Near Leadville, Colorado, 2013

And another example from the same area. First, the monochrome:

Hayden Ranch #14. Near Leadville, Colorado, 2013

Now, the color version of the same scene:

Hayden Ranch #14 (color). Near Leadville, Colorado, 2013